1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to back plane interconnection devices. The invention more particularly concerns a back plane interconnection device having optical fibers or waveguides so as to provide a low-profile.
2. Discussion of the Background
Optical connections between optical fibers or waveguides of an optical back plane and optical fibers or waveguides of an optical daughter card are known in the art. Two connection techniques are known in the art for connecting the optical back plane to the optical daughter card.
The first technique requires that the optical fibers or waveguides of the back plane be terminated in some manner as with a standard size ferrule. The optical fibers or waveguides of the daughter card are also terminated in some manner, such as with a standard size ferrule. Then a corresponding pair of ferrules, one from the back plane and the other from the daughter card, are brought together, and held together, so as to be in optical communication with one another, by way of an adapter housing or other similar structure.
The second technique requires that the optical fibers or waveguides of the back plane be terminated by exposing the bare terminal ends of the optical fibers or waveguides which are stripped of any insulating material. The optical fibers or waveguides of the daughter card are also terminated by exposing the bare terminal ends of the optical fibers or waveguides which are stripped of any insulating material. Then a corresponding pair of exposed ends are brought together so as to contact one another. The pair of exposed ends are then subject to high heat so as to fuse the two exposed ends to one another. The corresponding pair of optical fibers or waveguides are then in optical communication with one another.
The known techniques require a significant amount of skilled labor to perform the processes described above, and the resulting devices are large and bulky.